Saturday, November 30, 2013

James Lydon previously wrote that ‘Building in medieval Ireland
has so far received little attention from historians, except for those
interested in art and architecture’.[1]
The study of construction costs and the use of labour had not developed as much
due to the lack of source material. Yet Lydon showed that sources do exist. In
the same article cited above he printed a record of repairs made to St. John’s parish church in Dublin. This showed how much was paid to
carpenters, plasters, white-washers and one mason. The quantity and cost of
materials was also made known.[2] This
article will examine what construction story we can get about the medieval
Irish Exchequer.

The medieval Dublin Exchequer

The exchequer was the chief financial institution in medieval Ireland.[3] It
is supposed that from the day Prince John was made Lord of Ireland arrangements
were put in place for an office to collect and distribute the revenue of the
country. By 1200 this office was known as the exchequer. In those early days
the exchequer was headed by the justiciar while the effective head was merely
the clerk in charge of the exchequer. By 1217, the then clerk, John of St.
John, was accorded the title of treasurer. From that time the head of the
exchequer was known as the treasurer.[4]

The exchequer was divided into two departments. The upper exchequer was,
in effect, a court of audit where the county sheriff or his representative came
to have his account audited on an annual basis. The lower exchequer, also known
as the exchequer of receipt, was where the day-to-day financial work of
government was conducted. Here money was received and payments made.[5]
Not all government income and expenditure was handled by the lower exchequer.
The treasurer often issued instructions to local government officials to pay
expenses out of local revenue.[6]

The exchequer buildings

In the early days of the English administration of Ireland the location
of the exchequer offices is unknown. Dublin castle would be the obvious
location as it quickly became the centre of the English administration. In 1252
exchequer officials sought armed protection as they were molested by the Irish
and others as they carried money from place to place.[7] By
the 1270s the evidence would suggest that the exchequer was located outside
Dublin castle. In the early thirteen century the exchequer offices had moved
outside the walls of Dublin city and into the suburbs.

The Round Tower at Dublin Castle by William Murphy

From 1270 we start to get notices of expenditure on the upkeep and
maintenance of the exchequer offices. Walter the clerk and Geoffrey de Lyvet
were paid £15 in the financial term of 1270-72 for works on the houses of the
exchequer.[8]
The nature of these works was unspecified.

In 1276-7 more detailed
information is given. Thomas the carpenter and John the mason carried out
various works to the exchequer buildings. They were paid £4 13s 1½d and £10 16s
8d respectively. A further £2 11s 5½d was spent on purchasing lime. An
additional £9 4s was spent on purchasing timber and lime along with the
transporting costs of same to the building site. Peter the smith received £1 6s
8d for his involvement. We are told that this expenditure was on repairs to the
exchequer houses.[9] If
repairs were the proper description than a group of buildings must be standing
and in use by the exchequer as their offices by 1276.

In the following year £39 1s
½d was paid out for unspecified repairs to the exchequer. John the mason
received 7s for various works in the same year. One specified expense was to
Peter the smith of 6s for making a window for the exchequer building.[10]
The issue of windows will be discussed later in this article.

In Michaelmas term 1278
unspecified works were carried out in the exchequer to the amount of 18s 8d.[11]
In the same term 2s was paid in rent for a piece of ground near the exchequer. It
is not clear if this piece of ground was used by the exchequer or just happened
to be nearby. The reference would suggest that the exchequer offices were at a
separate location to Dublin castle. The same accounts talk of a chapel at
Dublin castle and a chapel at the exchequer which would support the idea of two
separate locations.[12]

In the Hilary term of 1283
Thomas Burell spent £1 on works at the exchequer by order of the treasurer. During
the Baptist term of 1284 Burell spent £11 16s 8d on various works at the
exchequer. Later in 1284 Burell spent a further £5 on the exchequer buildings.[13]
In the same year of 1284 a piece of ground near the exchequer was purchased by
the government from Edward Colet for 60s.[14]
We are not told if this piece of ground became part of the exchequer buildings
or was used for other purposes.

Between Trinity 1292 and 14
February 1293 Stephen de Exeter and Master Adam de Claverle carried out repairs
to the houses of the exchequer. They were paid £12 7s ¾d but it is not stated
if this was all wages or wages plus materials used. Similar repairs to the
exchequer houses were carried out under John de Ideshale and Master Adam de
Claverle, the king’s carpenter, between 14 April 1293 and 27 February 1294. For
this work they received £6 13s 11¾d.[15]
The nature of the work is unspecified but if it took nearly a year to complete
it would seem to be more than just a leaking roof.

Sometime between 1292 and 1294
a proposal was made by order of the king to build a new house in the courtyard
of the exchequer. Timber and boards to the value of £4 13s 5d were purchased
for the job. Yet by June 1294 the materials remained in the courtyard without
any notation of when construction would begin.[16] It
is not only modern governments who waste taxpayer’s money on building projects that
are never built. This reference to a courtyard of the exchequer would further
support the idea that the exchequer was at a separate location to Dublin
castle.

Regular and irregular minor
repairs continued at the exchequer such as making a bench of boards and
repairing a door which cost 5d in 1296.[17]

The exchequer outside in the suburbs

By the early years of the thirteenth century the location of the
exchequer offices is given as outside the city walls, in the Dublin suburbs.
The exact location is not clear but somewhere around St. Patrick’s Cathedral
would seem the likely place. In peaceful times the suburbs must have been an
enjoyable environment for the exchequer officials in work in; away for the
dirty and cramped conditions inside the city. But this was medieval Ireland
where peaceful times never lasted for long.

In the years 1313-14 the
records of the exchequer were carried from Dublin castle to the exchequer
offices at the beginning and end of each term. But by the first half of 1315 this
had changed. Now the records and money of the exchequer had to be carried every
day between the exchequer buildings and Dublin castle because of the state of
war across the country. As an additional security measure a blower horn,
costing 10d, was purchased for the garrison at the exchequer in give warning to
the castle that the former was under attack.[18]

Renting buildings for the
exchequer

On 25th May 1315 Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish king,
Robert Bruce, landed with an army at Larne. He was soon joined by many Irish
families. A combined English and Irish army led by the Earl of Ulster marched
north but after defections was defeated in battle. By November Edward Bruce had
secured most of Ulster and marched into Meath. In late February 1316 the Scots
were within sight of Dublin. To protect the city the citizens pulled down the
buildings outside the north wall and built a new north wall along the
present-day south quays. On the night of 23rd February the western
suburbs about Thomas Street were burnt to prevent the Scots from using the area
as a base to assault the city. This burning of the suburbs was a pre-arranged
defence measure. In the evnt Edward Bruce did not attack Dublin but moved south
to ravage Leinster.[19]

Drawing of Dublin in February 1317 with the suburbs on fire (top right) by Stephen Conlin

It would seem that the exchequer offices were located in the burnt
western suburbs as following the burning the exchequer moved location to within
the city. Here they rented a few houses from Robert de Wyleby (and later his
widow Alice) at £5 per annum from Easter 1317 onwards to 1339.[20] The
location of the exchequer within the city is unclear. In 1318 Osbert le Mareschal
rented a plot of ground beside his own tenement, from Dublin city council,
which plot was near the exchequer.[21] Yet
it is still not possible to identify this location.

But even within the city the exchequer was not safe. Between 30 April
1316 and 31 March 1317 Martin de Fyssacre was assigned to supervise the watch
at the exchequer with the help of 5 crossbowmen (wages of 2d per day). Their
mission was to protect the exchequer against Irish rebels who threatened to
burn the exchequer buildings.[22]

The practice of the government renting houses from the citizens of
Dublin for offices was not always appreciated. In 1363 the citizens complained
to the king that government officials occupying lodgings against their consent
and by force take and carry away their goods and chattels in return for which
the officials give little or no payment. This was against granted royal
charters. In response Edward III commanded the chancellor and treasurer to
correct any wrongdoing and prevent such violations in the future.[23]

New exchequer buildings

In 1339 the exchequer moved out of the houses it was renting from Robert
de Wyleby and his widow, Alice. Instead of going into new purpose built
offices, the exchequer rented a number of houses from Walter de Istelep, and
later from John Taillour. Walter de
Istelep was treasurer and head of the exchequer in the 1320s before he was
dismissed on corruption charges.[24] In
1323 Walter de Istelep was granted piped water to his house on High Street by
the Dublin city council but it is unclear if this was the later location of the
exchequer offices.[25] In
the chamberlain’s account roll for 1346-8 Walter de Istelep and after June 1347
John Taillour are paid rent money for the houses of the exchequer. This rent
was at £4 per annum and was continued onwards to Easter 1363.[26]
The one pound reduction in the rent must have influenced the move or was it an
ex-treasurer trying to use his influence to get an important government
contract. We may never know for sure.

Map showing High Street where Walter de Istelep had a house. Site number 1 is Dublin Castle

The issue roll of 1339-41 records a payment of 1s 2d for the carriage of
bags and coffers from the old exchequer to the new exchequer in which the king’s
pleas of the exchequer and the bench were held. It is not clear if the new
buildings had designated sleeping quarters for officials or visitors. In 1359
it was noted that John More stayed continually by day and night at the
exchequer doing the king’s business.[27]

After 1363 the exchequer moved its offices to Carlow. The story of the
exchequer at Carlow is expertly told by Philomena Connolly in an article
entitled: ‘The head and comfort of Leinster: Carlow as the administration
capital of Ireland, 1361-1394’, in Carlow
in History and Society, edited by Thomas McGrath (Geography Publications,
Dublin, 2008). In 1394 the exchequer returned to Dublin with the continued
contraction of the English colony.

Multiple building works

From 1280 the expenditure of exchequer buildings is included with the
expenditure on Dublin castle and with the nearby king’s mill. It is extremely
difficult at this juncture to separate the total building expenditure and say
how much was spent on the exchequer offices. The following amounts were spent
on repairs and maintenance along with unspecified works between 1280 and 1304.

From 1306 John Sampson was supervisor of the works at the exchequer and
Dublin castle with the additional responsibly for the king’s mill. These three
places were in partial ruins by Trinity term 1306 and £27 2s 3d was spent in
repairs. In 1309 John Sampson spent £55 12s 16d between the three locations on
repairs to the houses of same that were ruined. The enrolled accounts record
that Sampson expended £75 13s 4d at the three locations.[38]

From 1310 Thomas Bolace was supervisor of the works at the exchequer
along the king’s mills and Dublin castle. In 1311-12 Thomas Bolace spent £5 6s
8d on repairs to the houses at the exchequer, castle and the king’s mills. Some
of these houses were in a ruinous condition. Between July and October 1312 the
enrolled accounts record that Bolace spent £40 6s 8d at the exchequer, Dublin
castle and the king’s mills.[39]

By Michaelmas term 1317 John Sampson was again keeper of the works at
Dublin castle and at the exchequer. Between then and Trinity term 1318 Sampson
spent £16 7s 6d on repairing the houses of the castle and exchequer along with
other works. In 1318 Sampson spent £4 4s 8d on repairs to houses at the
exchequer and the castle along with new works at the latter location.[40]

From Michaelmas 1318 to Trinity 1319 John Sampson spent £19 10s 4d on
various unspecified works at the exchequer, Dublin castle and the king’s mills
beside the castle. Later in 1319 Sampson spent £17 10s 3d between the exchequer
and the castle. Between Michaelmas 1319 and Easter 1320 an additional £27 8s 8d
was spent on works at the exchequer and the castle.[41]

After 1320 there is a gap in the records until 1341-43 when William de
Barton, clerk, is mentioned as keeper of the works at the exchequer and Dublin castle.
Between the two places de Barton expended £40 on various repair jobs.[42]

In the years 1343-4 John de Wylton, keeper of the stores at Dublin castle, expended
£15 on repairs to the houses at the exchequer and the castle.[43]
Between October 1344 and November 1345, John de Carleton expended £27 11s 1d on
various projects as keeper of the works at the exchequer and Dublin castle.[44]

During 1362-4 John Scrope acted as keeper of the works at the exchequer
and at Dublin castle where he was also keeper of the stores there. In that time
he expended £267 9s 11¼d on various repairs at the exchequer and at the castle.[45]

Windows

In the 1277/78 year Peter the smith was paid 6s for making a window for
the exchequer building. A general bill of £2 7s 3¾d for works at the exchequer
included the purchase of timber and making of glass windows. Later in Easter
term 1282 Brother Robert de Chester, glazier, was paid £3 for glazing the
windows of the exchequer.[46]
Brother Robert must have had a lot of work to do. At Exeter cathedral in 1280 the
glazier got 4s 6d for doing one window.[47]
The normal wage of glazier John Anstey, in the 1340s, was about 2s per week.[48]

The glass windows were very expensive in medieval times. Only the
richest cathedrals, abbeys and temporal lords could afford glass windows.
During the 1270s and 1280s the Dublin government was showing off its power by
installing such windows. It is not known where this glass came from. In 1318
Exeter cathedral purchased glass from Rouen in France.[49]

Yet within a few years the cost of the Scottish war was diverting the
revenue of the Dublin government. From 1300 canvas is used instead of glass. During
Hilary term 1300 the window in the hall before the bench of the justices was
repaired and canvas was brought for the same window. During Hilary term 1304
the window beside the bench where the justices sat was repaired at a cost of
10d.[50]

After the Bruce invasion and the famine of 1316-1318 the government’s
available revenue for its building repairs had declined. Thus in the winter of
1319-20 a sum of 4d was spent on mending
canvas for the windows of the exchequer and in repairs to the same windows. In
1322 another 6d of canvas was purchased to cover the windows.[51]

During the period of Michaelmas 1323 and Hilary 1324 four windows in
each exchequer were covered with 5 ells of canvas. The purchase of nails and
leather, along with the payment to a workman who carried out the job, cost 2s
1d. It is presumed that the cost of the canvas is also included with this
amount but the accounts are not clear on this fact.[52]
More detailed accounts are given in 1327 for window repairs but the number of
windows was not unspecified. Six ells of canvas was purchased (2s), along with
nails (4d) and leather (1d). A workman received 5d for covering the windows
with the canvas.[53]

The government’s revenues were not always in decline as shown in the
fifteenth century. Between 1424 and 1426 lead, tin, and iron bars were
purchased for the glazed window of the receipt exchequer. The cost of this work
is unknown as it was included in the general running costs of the exchequer
(totalled at £30 10s 5d).[54]

Floor coverings

The use of straw and rushes to cover the floors of the exchequer was a
regular expense. Civil servants with cold feet are not happy bunnies. At Easter
term 1296 the cleaning of the houses of the council, the receipt and the barons
with the purchase of straw cost 5d. In the following Trinity term the same
cleaning job was done with the purchase of rushes instead of straw at a cost of
8d. In 1298 cost of purchasing rushes for the exchequer houses was 3d and
increased to 4d in Trinity term 1299. By these figures the use of rushes sounds
more expensive than straw. Yet a long seat of straw brought for the house of
the council in 1299 cost 6d.[55]

By 1299 it would seem that the price of straw had increased since 1296.
At Easter term 1299 5½d was spent on straw for the houses of the barons and the
receipt without any mention of the cleaning bill and more straw was purchased
in Michaelmas term.[56]

By Hilary term 1302 the cost of straw for the houses of the barons and
the receipt had risen to 8d. In 1304 it cost 7d to buy straw for two of the
exchequer houses.[57]
In 1305 the same cost of 7d for straw for the two houses was spent but divided
into two payments of 4d and 3d. But this was added to in Michaelmas 1305 with a
further expense of 9d for straw.[58]

In Trinity term 1306 the sum of 8d was spent on rushes for the two
exchequer houses but in the Michaelmas term they reverted to straw at a cost of
6d. In Hilary term 1307 the cost of straw for the two houses had increased
considerably to 1s or 12d.[59]
In Easter term 1307 officials purchased rushes instead of straw. It is
difficult to know if there was much in the way of savings in this change as the
bill (total 1s 3d) included mats for the exchequer benches.[60]
In 1308 straw and rushes were purchased for the two exchequers to the value of
1s 7d. In 1309 straw and rushes were again purchased for the floors of the two
exchequers. The cost for that year was 2s 1d.[61]

Between Michaelmas 1311 and Trinity term 1312 straw, rushes and mats
were purchased for both exchequers at a cost of 3s.[62] In
1318 four pence was spent on rushes for the two departments of the exchequer.[63]

In the autumn of 1325 the sum of 4d was spent on straw. In 1326 straw,
rushes and mats were purchased costing 1s 9d for both the upper and lower
exchequer. In the two terms of Michaelmas 1331 and Trinity 1332 straw worth
11½d was purchased for the two departments. In 1356-8 rushes and straw, worth
2s 2d for both exchequers.[64]

Furniture

Accounts of furniture at the exchequer are few. In 1318 mats costing 8d
were purchased for covering the benches in both exchequers. In 1323 six pence
was expended on mending and repairing three bench seats in the exchequer of
receipt.[65]

Locks and keys

Having good locks and keys was an important expense at the exchequer. In
the financial year 1274-5 the sum of 6s 8d was spent on keys for the works of
the exchequer.[66]The Michaelmas term of 1278 saw 2s spent on making locks and keys for a
chest in the treasury of Holy Trinity.[67]In Michaelmas term 1281 2s was spent on the repairs of weights along
with the books of the exchequer and locks of the door and chest in which the
treasurer was place.[68]

In 1292 eight new locks were purchased at 8d for the lot. More
substantial locks were purchased in 1298 when four locks were purchased for
various doors at the exchequer at a cost of 7½d. During Trinity term 1299 10d
was spent on locks for various doors in the exchequer and in buying cords for
the louvers. In the following Michaelmas term 4d was spent on the same cords. At
Michaelmas 1303 two new locks were purchased for 1s 8d. One of these was for
the great door of the exchequer while the other was for the chest where the
king’s money was kept.[69]

During Trinity term 1307 four
new locks were purchased for the doors of the exchequer of receipt while
another lock was got for the remembrancer’s coffer. At the same time other
locks were repair for a total bill of 3s 10d.[70]
In 1308 a new lock was purchased for the exchequer door. At the same time two
keys for the door of the chamber to the exchequer of the receipt were made. The
full cost of these works was 9d. These new security measures were taken because
of the threat of war in Leinster. During
Trinity term the exchequer records were carried between the castle and the exchequer
buildings every day.[71]
In normal times this conveyance would be only at the start and end of each
term.

In 1309 an additional two new
locks were purchased (1s 1d) for the doors of the exchequer.[72]
In 1311 a lock in the receipt exchequer cost 4d to repair.[73]
In 1312 and 1313 new locks and keys were brought for various chests and
strongboxes in the exchequer of receipt. At the same time old locks were
repaired. The total cost of these works came to 3s 8d.[74]In 1318 2s 6d was spent on five locks for closing two chests in the
exchequer of the receipt along with five keys.[75]

In 1327 1s 2d was spent on repairing and mending various locks at the
exchequer and Dublin castle. A further 6d was spent for making 2 keys and
repairing 4 locks.[76]In the two terms of Michaelmas 1331 and Trinity 1332 three keys and
locks were purchased for the coffers of the treasury at the exchequer and the
repair of other locks and keys. The total cost was 1s 6d. In the same period straw
worth 11½d was purchased for two departments of the exchequer.[77]

In the accounts for 1348-9 a sum of 3s 4d was expended on the purchase
of locks and keys and the repair of old locks. The same account mentions 4s 2d
spent on repair of various works at the exchequer. Other such expenditure was
made in later times such as 1353-4 when 1s 6½d was spent on repairs to locks
and keys at the exchequer and at Dublin
castle.[78]

Secure chests

Many of the locks and keys were to secure storage chests. In 1322 ten
pence was spent making a cask with wickets and the purchase of a lock for same.
This was to hold the rolls of the liberty of Trim which had come into the
king’s hand. In 1431 a large chest in which the exchequer seal was kept was
repaired at a cost of 1s.[79]

Weights and books

In Michaelmas term 1281 2s was spent on the repairs of weights along
with the books of the exchequer and locks of the door and chest in which the treasurer
was place.[80]

In 1324 a striped cloth (£3) was purchased for covering both exchequers.
It is this kind of striped cloth that is depicted on an illustration of the
exchequer which adores the cover of Irish
Exchequer Payments by Philomena Connolly. The cutting and sewing of this
cloth cost 2s 2d.[81]
New cloth was purchased around 1327-31 for the great exchequer and for the
exchequer of receipt. This cost of this cloth is unclear as it was included in
the total figure for exchequer minor expenses covering those years. This total
was £53 10s 9d.[82] In the
years 1341-43 a new and uncut striped cloth was purchased for both exchequers
and together with its cutting cost £3 1s in total.[83]
Another striped cloth was purchased in 1355-6 for £3 14s 7d to cover both exchequers.
Another new striped cloth was purchased for both exchequers in 1362-4. The cost
of this cloth is unknown as it was included in the total figure which included
many other items.[84]

In the time from February 1365
to September 1366 two striped cloths were purchased for £7 11s 7d. These were
for use in both exchequers. In 1439-42 eight yards of striped cloth was
purchased for the exchequer but unfortunately the cost was included in the
figure for general expenses.[85]The striped cloth was used to calculate the various accounts and make sure the sums add up.

Drawing of the exchequer in the 15th century with the striped cloth in chequered pattern which gave the institution its name.

The chapel of the exchequer

The earliest reference to a chapel at the exchequer offices is from
about 1270 when the chaplain of same was paid 100s for one and a half years
pay. In 1274 a half mark was paid for a chest to hold the chaplain’s vestments.[86] In
1323 a sum of 7d was spent on covering a missal and a gradual in the chapels of
the exchequer and at Dublin castle with white leather. A few years later in
1331 a towel worth 3d was purchased for the chapel altar.[87]

The purchase of wax for candles in the exchequer chapel and in the
separate chapel at Dublin Castle was a regular expense. In 1277/78 a sum of 6
shillings was spent on wax for both chapels. In the same year 3 shillings 9
pence was spent buying wax for the burial of Michael, the chaplain of the
exchequer, who died while on the king’s service. In 1430 bread, wine and wax
was purchasing (costing 3s) for a friar to celebrate divine service in the
exchequer chapel.[88]

The chapel would be used at the start of every day to give blessing on
the officials and their work. Before exchequer officials went on journeys
around Ireland or travelled overseas to England they possibly went to the
chapel for quite prayers and blessing or a safe journey. During the years
1356-8 a painting of an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary was purchased for the
chapel to help with these prayers. The sum of £1 4s was spent on the painting.[89]

Conclusion

With the image of the Blessed Virgin still in our minds we come to the
end of this journey through the exchequer building records. There are many gaps
in our knowledge of the fabric of the medieval exchequer; for example, did they
have a kitchen within the exchequer buildings or did officials go out to the
local tavern for lunch. Yet it this pioneering research a start has to be made somewhere.
As James Lydon wrote, at the start of his article, there are plenty of sources
on construction in medieval Ireland; just collecting these sources takes time. Much
done – much more to do.

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About Me

The medieval world seems so far away yet much of what we see and do today comes from that distant world. This blog will feature articles on the medieval world in Ireland and Britain - the Celtic 2 Realms - Hope you enjoy and have fun with all things medieval.